Wear sleeve retriever



Jan. 13, 1970 w, M. PHIPPS ETAL 3,489,214

WEAR SLEEVE RETRI EVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 5, 1968 BY t 45: m ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,489,214 WEAR SLEEVE RETRIEVER Willis M. Phipps, Enoch H. Brashear, and Robert L. Crain, Houston, Tex., and Richard H. Merry, Natchez, Miss.; said Phipps, Brashear, and Crain, assignors to Gray Tool Company, Houston, Tex., a corporation of Texas; and said Merry assignor to Chevron Research Company, San Francisco, Calif., a corporation of Delaware Filed June 5, 1968, Ser. No. 734,642 Int. Cl. E211) 17/12 US. Cl. 166-85 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The tool body has a through bore large enough to pass over the upset end of a drill pipe and means on the surface thereof for securably engaging a wear sleeve or similar element. Split sleeves, removably insertable in the through bore, aid in mounting the tool on the drill pipe. In the preferred form, the screws which fasten the split sleeves to the body also proceed further to engage the drill pipe to fixedly mount the tool on the drill pipe.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Wear sleeves are conveniently used during well drilling and other operations on wells to protect, against excessive wear, the seats, bowls and seal areas of casing heads and other wellhead elements, including the joint region between the head or housing and the first length of pipe or casing to which it is attached.

A wear sleeve construction which has proven to be quite successful in use is shown in the US. patent of John Slack, 3,247,914.

According to the preferred method described in that patent, the wear sleeve has an internal bore smaller than the width of the drill bit so the wear sleeve may be loosely incorporated on the drill string, resting on the drill bit and lowered to its operative location as the drill string is run into the hole and retrieved on the bit as the bit is withdrawn after drilling. There are times, however, when it is desirable to retrieve the wear sleeve without using the bit. An example of this is in the case of stuck drill pipe. The pipe is backed off above the bit and withdrawn from the hole leaving the drill collars and bit in the hole. To get the drill collars and bit, it is necessary to wash over the fish with a washover string larger in inside diameter than the drill collars outside diameter and the same outside diameter as the bit. Because of its size, this equipment will not go through a normal wear sleeve. Therefore, it is then necessary to remove the wear sleeve.

One method of removing the wear sleeve in instances where lifting on the drill bit is undesired or out of the question is to use a wear sleeve provided with a J-slot and retriever body having radially outwardly protruding dowel means for engaging the J-slot. This retriever is incorporated in the drill string with usual pin and box threaded upper and lower ends. Due to the profusion of thread types and sizes now being used, such retrievers have to be ordered with threads to match those of the drill string or numerous transition subs are required to incorporate the retriever in the drill string.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the invention is the provision of a running and retrieving tool which is removably securable on the outside of a pipe so that it is universal in the sense that it can be mounted on a string of pipe independently of the threading on the pipe.

"ice

In preferred form, the tool has: a body having a longitudinal through bore large enough to pass over the upset end of a pipe; a plurality of segmental split sleeves slidable into the bore from the end facing away from the pipe upset end; means defining alignable openings radially through the body and split sleeves; the split sleeves having lower end surfaces adapted to seat on the rear of the pipe upset end; screws threadably advanceable in said openings partly through the body, into the respective sleeves and into engagement with the exterior of the pipe to secure the tool together and prevent its rotation with respect to the pipe. Protruding means such as radially projecting pins are provided on the tool for engaging a cooperating means on the wear sleeve or similar element.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The principles of the invention will be further hereinafter discussed with reference to the drawings wherein a preferred embodiment is shown. The specifics illustrated in the drawings are intended to exemplify, rather than limit, aspects of the invention as defined in the claims.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation view of a drill string being assembled, and showing in longitudinal section, a retriever body circumferentially surrounding the drill pipe near the juncture of the straight section of the pipe and the upset lower pin end of the pipe and the split sleeves being installed.

FIGURES 2-5 are similar fragmentary elevation views, with parts broken away to expose interior details, of a typical wellhead during drilling operations, respectively showing: running of a wear sleeve on a drill bit (FIG- URE 2); installing the tool on the drill string to retrieve the wear sleeve shown in operating position (FIGURE 3); the tool and wear sleeve engaged (FIGURE 4); and the wear sleeve withdrawn from the well on the tool.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIGURE 2, a stage of completion of a well 10 is shown, wherein a string of casing 12 is already in place having a casing head or housing 14 mounted on its upper end. In the example shown, the head through, bore 16 includes an internal circumferential, upwardly facing seat surface 18 and a head-to-pipe connection or joint at 20. In preparation for drilling down through the bore 22 of casing 12 for receipt of the next, inner string of easing, a blowout preventer stack 24 has been mounted on top of the head 14. A mud riser 26 (which would be much longer than shown when drilling underwater) projects upwardly from the blowout preventer stack. At the stage shown, a wear sleeve 28, for instance as described more fully in US. Patent 3,247,914, has been installed over a drill collar 30 and the bit 32' made up so the wear sleeve 28 rests on the bit, also as described in said patent.

Before passing to FIGURE 3, it should be noticed that the wear sleeve 28 has been interiorly provided with two diametrically opposed J-slots 34. In FIGURE 2 the one nearest the viewer appears in dashed lines; the one furthest from the viewer (not shown) is elongated in the same sense angularly of the wear sleeve. As other matters of interest in respect to the particular example shown, the exterior of the wear sleeve undergoes a reduction in diameter at 36 to provide a downwardly facing circumferential seat; the length of the wear sleeve and the axial position of the seat 36 being such that, when the wear sleeve has been lowerd to its operating position .(FIGURE 3) the seat 36 rests on the head through bore seat surface 18, and the sleeve projects upwardly into the lower end of the bore of the blowout preventer to protect this region and projects downwardly past the casing head-to-pipe connection 20 to protect all of the casing head bore internal surfaces and the casing head-to-pipe connection 20.

In FIGURE 3, the drill bit and collar have deposited the wear sleeve and have continued down into the hole at the lower end of the drill string 38, for instance to drill deeper. As an example, it is shown in FIGURE 3 having become necessary or desirable, for instance for the reasons discussed in the background above, to retrieve the wear sleeve without bringing the drill bit all the way up and out of the hole. To install the wear sleeve retriever tool 40, the string of drill pipe 38, the drill pipe is first set on the slips 42 of the rotary 44 at the rig floor 46 and the joint 48 broken, i.e. unscrewed until it comes apart. (Refer to FIGURE 1). The tool 40 includes a generally tubular body 50 having a longitudinal through bore 51 of sufiicient diameter to allow the body to be freely passed up over the pin end 52 of the joint 48 until mostly above the normal circumferential enlargement 54 thereon. Near its upper end the body 50 is provided with at least one, for instance four equiangularly spaced, radially directed, internally threaded openings 56 which communizate between the through bore 51 and exterior thereof. The joint 48 may then be remade.

A split retainer sleeve 58, for instance consisting of two identical longitudinal halves 60 is then slipped into the annulus between the straight portion of the drill pipe above the joint 48, and the body 50 and lowered until the radially directed internally threaded openings 62 through the sleeve 58 are aligned with the respective openings 56, whereupon, with the lower surface 64 of the sleeve 58 resting upon the rear of the pin end enlargement 54 screws 66 are threadably advanced radially inwardly part way through the openings 56 into the openings 62 and up against the drill pipe to hold the assembly in position. In the embodiment shown, the sleeve portions 60 each have two of the openings 62. The portions 60 each flare exteriorly at 61 near their upper ends. The re- :riever body through bore is complementarily internally Flared at 63 near its upper end so that when the surfaces 61 and 63 have engaged, the openings 62 and 56 are at :he same level. This assists greatly in expeditious assembly )f the tool 40.

Before passing to FIGURE 4, it should be noticed that :he exterior of the body is provided with two diametrical- .y opposed J-pins 68.

With reference to FIGURE 4, the string of drill pipe with the retriever tool mounted thereon is lowered and l-ed into engagement with the wear sleeve J-slots 34. After the retriever tool has been secured to the wear tleeve, the string of drill pipe is Withdrawn thus withdrawing the wear sleeve from the well on the retriever 1001. The joint 48 is then broken to remove the wear sleeve. The retriever tool may also be removed by partly Withdrawing the screws 66, slipping out the split sleeve 58 and lowering the body 50 of broken joint 48.

It is now apparent that the wear sleeve retriever tool :ould be used as a running tool by reversing the opera- :ions just described in respect to FIGURES 1 and 3-5. Furthermore, although the tool is particularly useful in -etrieving and running wear sleeves, it could be used 11 a like manner to run and retrieve similar well elements. Fhe I-slot and J-pin cooperative securement means are :xemplary; other cooperative securement means, for in- :tance threading or a pawl and latch arrangement could )e used.

The materials used in fabricating the tool 40 can vary lepending on the desired ruggedness. Steel alloys such as hose used in construction of conventional drill pipe or [S used in construction of wear sleeves can be used satis- 'actorily in fabricating the wear sleeve retriever.

It should now be apparent that the wear sleeve retriever as described hereinabove possesses each of the attributes set forth in the specification under the heading Summary of the Invention hereinbefore. Because the wear sleeve retriever of the invention can be modified to some extent without departing from the principles of the invention as they have been outlined and explained in this specification, the present invention should be understood as encompassing all such modifications as are within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. For removable securement on a pipe having a straight central portion merging with an enlargement adjacent the lower end thereof to provide an upwardly facing shoulder, a tool for retrieving a well element having cooperative securement means thereon, said retrieving tool comprising: a tubular body having a longitudinal through bore of such size as to permit the tubular body to be freely slipped circumferentially over the pipe from the pipe lower end and brought to position over the pipe shoulder; means removably received in said bore above the pipe shoulder for supporting the body on the pipe shoulder; means securing the supporting means to the body; and cooperative securement means on the body constructed and arranged to engage the cooperative securement means on the well element for retrieving the well element.

2. The retrieving tool of claim 1, wherein said supporting means comprise a plurality of segmental sleeve portions configured to be slid into the through bore of said body from the upper end of said through bore.

3. The retrieving tool of claim 2 wherein the securing means comprise means defining at least one opening in each sleeve portion adjacent the body and means defining an opening in the body adjacent each said sleeve portion opening; and a rigid element keying each respective body opening to each respective sleeve portion opening.

4. The retrieving tool of claim 3 wherein all of said openings proceed radially of said body and said sleeve portions, all of said openings being internally threaded and said keying elements comprising screws threadably received in said openings.

5. The retrieving tool of claim 4 wherein said openings in said sleeve portions proceed all of the way radially therethrough and wherein each screw when advanced radially inwardly to protrusion from said openings in said sleeve portions is of suflicient length to remain threadably connected to said body, whereby said retrieving tool is constructed and arranged for securement to the pipe.

6. The retrieving tool of claim 4 wherein each sleeve portion includes an outward radial projection thereon near the upper end thereof and said body includes upwardly facing surface means thereon constructed and arranged to be engaged by said sleeve portion outward radial projections when said openings in said sleeve portions are at the axial level of said openings through said body.

7. The retrieving tool of claim 1 wherein the cooperative securement means on said body comprise two diametrically opposed external J-pins thereon constructed and arranged to engage internal J-slots on the well element.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,195,640 7/1965 Wilde 166315 3,225,833 12/1965 Parkhurst et a1. 166207 3,240,511 3/1966 Bishop et a1. 166-315 3,415,322 12/1968 Putch 166-242 JAMES A. LEPPINK, Primary Examiner 

